Why You Should Snap up Hella Bitter's DIY Bitters Kit

DIY kitchen crafts are everywhere: cheese-making sets, beer brewing boxes, even grow-your-own-mushrooms logs. But until now, you'd have been hard-pressed to find a make-your-own bitters kit.

Starting this week, Hella Bitter, the company that stocks bars with New York-made citrus and aromatic bitters, is releasing a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a Craft Your Own Bitters Kit.

Why would you want to make your own bitters? Just like making your own seasoning salts, developing your own bitters gives you even more control over your final gastronomic product. For those who are cocktail aficionados, but not interested in distilling their own alcohol, bitters are a clear next-best: Utilize the pre-packaged aromatic blends to mix and strain your own bitter creations. You can improvise by adding other fresh herbs and playing with the base spirit; the Hella Bitter boys give the example of adding a chile and tequila to make a fantastic margarita bitter. "The spice blends simply serve as an aromatic base for backbone and structure," explains Hella Bitter co-founder Tobin Ludwig. "In the end, we decided, let's give people a reliable starting point and let them get weird."

Each kit comes with a custom machined funnel, two infusion jars, a fine mesh steel strainer, four bottle droppers, a citrus spice blend, and an aromatic spice blend. "The dream of a DIY kit actually started out of a conversation we had over two years ago," Ludwig told us. "We put together a wish list of everything we had fantasized about having at our fingertips when we started. That's why there are 10 pieces in the kit."

Whether you're a cocktail novice or master, the bitters kit is designed to be easy-to-use and wide open to many interpretations.

If you'd like to support the project, check out Hella Bitter's Kickstarter campaign, where you'll be able to snap up a Craft Your Own Bitters Kit and whip up some truly unique recipes.